Ball State University Athletics
Women's Volleyball Scores Senior Night Win Over Central Michigan
November 11, 2006 | Women's Volleyball
Muncie, Ind. - - The Ball State (11-17, 8-8 Mid-American Conference) women's volleyball team celebrated senior night in thrilling fashion, claiming a 3-2 (27-30, 30-26, 28-30, 30-27, 15-7) come-from-behind victory over Central Michigan (17-12, 7-9 MAC) Saturday night at Worthen Arena.
With the win, BSU earns the No. 6 seed in next week's MAC Tournament and will host No. 11 Buffalo in first-round action Tuesday night at
After battling back-and-forth through the first four games, Ball State turned up the heat in the fifth game, blasting a .500 (
Senor Kelly Cochran (LaPorte, Ind./Michigan City Marquette H.S) would follow with another kill to put the Cardinals ahead 2-0 in the set. A kill from Central Michigan's Kate Fissel and BSU's only attack error of the frame would tie the score at 2-2.
The Cardinals would answer with three-straight kills and a service ace from freshman Ana Gabriela Pedrosa (Belo Horizonte,
Central Michigan's Courtney Kersten would tack on the next point, before a kill from BSU junior Angie Parrell (Black Earth, Wis./Wisconsin Heights H.S.) gave BSU match-point at 14-5.
After a pair of CMU points put the score at 14-7, freshman Julie Breivogel (Boonville, Ind./Boonville H.S.) would smash her second match-winner of the weekend, give BSU a 15-7 game five win and a 3-2 match victory.
With senior night festivities taking place prior to the start of the contest, all three BSU seniors turned in strong performances. Cochran would finish the match with her team-leading 14th double-double of the season, racking up 17 kills and 16 digs, while scoring a service ace and a block.
Senior Amanda McCormick (Muncie, Ind./Burris H.S.) would post 39 digs for the second-straight match to bring her season total to an amazing 801. McCormick is the first player in league history to record over 800 digs in a season and becomes only the third player in NCAA Division I history to hit the mark.
With both matches factored in, McCormick now paces all players in the country with a 7.78 digs-per-game average on the year. The NCAA Division I record is 7.02 set in 2004. The BSU and MAC single-season mark was set at 6.32 by McCormick last season.
McCormick would also add five assists and a pair of aces in the victory.
Senior Kirby Gibson (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson H.S.) also collected double-figure kills in the match, with 10. Gibson has now smashed 10-or-more kills in four of BSU's last six matches. She would go on to add four blocks (1 solo and 3 assists) while scoring a pair of digs.
Also participating in senior night for Ball State was two-time senior Stephanie Bacan (Remsen, Iowa/St. Mary's H.S.), who recorded a career-high 18 digs. Bacan originally went through senior night last season, but elected to return to the team in the middle of this season after being granted a medical redshirt for her freshman campaign.
May, who led all players with 21 kills in the contest, was also one of BSU's top blockers on the night, recording five total blocks (2 solo and 3 assists). She also finished the night with a pair of digs.
Parrell would score a team--high 51 assists, while pacing all players with five total blocks (3 solo and 3 assists). She also smashed six kills and picked up five digs.
Also seeing action at setter was freshman Cassie Conner (Willow Springs, Ill./Lyons Township H.S.). Conner would help stabilize the BSU offense late in the fourth game and racked up seven of her nine assists in the fifth frame.
Breivogel would finish the contest ranked third on the team with 16 kills, while posing five digs and a solo block. In addition to her match-winning kill, Breivogel tallied the game four winner for the Cardinals. Overall, she collected the winning kill in five of BSU's six game wins this weekend.
Pedrosa would finish the contest with 10 digs and a pair of aces, while fellow freshman Elaina Kakatolis (Arcanum, Ohio/Franklin Monroe H.S.) scored four kills, two blocks (1 solo and 1 assists) and one dig.
Between games two and three, BSU also honored long-time team trainer Tony Cox, who will be leaving the program to join Henry County Sports Medicine at the end of the season.
For the match, Ball State out-hit Central Michigan .193 (74-30-228) to .169 (75-37-225). The Cardinals also held a 13-10 lead in blocks and a 5-3 edge in service aces. CMU out-dug the Cardinals 104-98.
Whitney Evers would pace four Chippewas who collected double-figure kills with 19. Alexis Lonneman was one of five CMU players to record double-digit digs, tossing up a team-best 29.
